GEORGE LUCENTE, a Second Shot at Life Table of Contents
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MessengerVolume 99, Issue 1 | Winter 2018 Young at Art GEORGE LUCENTE, a Second Shot at Life Table of Contents Featured in this Issue: PHOEBE AT WORK 4 A Second Shot at Life 8 Dining Better, Doing Better 10 That Sweet Old Song THE ART OF LIVING 16 Artists in Residence 8 26 Birds of a Feather THE GREATEST GENERATION 22 The Dutchman in Japan Happenings 25 Institutional Advancement 30 Phoebe Pharmacy On the cover: George Lucente, 81, was on the brink of death when he came to Phoebe. Rigorous rehabilitation and a will of iron brought him to where he is today: living better, and stronger than ever. Read more on page 4. 10 16 Phoebe-Devitt Homes is the official name of the 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation doing business as Phoebe Ministries. Founded in 1903 and incorporated as such in 1984, Phoebe-Devitt Homes is responsible for the supervision of communities, long-range planning, development, and fundraising for a network of retirement options, affordable housing, pharmacies, and a continuing care at home program, which combined serve thousands of seniors annually. Phoebe Ministries is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and is a member of LeadingAge, LeadingAge PA, and the Council for Health and Human Service Ministries of the United Church of Christ. Copyright 2018 by Phoebe Ministries. Photographs and artwork copyright by their respective creators or Phoebe Ministries. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be used or republished in any form without express written permission. 16 Welcome | WINTER 2018 Mission Statement: A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT A community of faith, called by God, to Dear friends, serve the needs and to enhance the lives I am always pleased and honored to welcome the of our elders, their new year with you. As we look toward the coming families and the year and all it brings, I am inspired not only with broader community. hope and optimism for the future, but with gratitude and humility for our blessings. With the continued President & CEO: support of donors and volunteers, as well as the Scott R. Stevenson hard work and dedication of our staff on all fronts, Phoebe Ministries we have made great strides in improving the way Governing Board Chair: we serve people, both within and outside our Robert W. Miller retirement communities. Editor-in-Chief: What strikes me most when I look through these pages is the variety of life and purpose Peter McConnell represented there. The stories in this issue and those we have shared with you in the past Contributors: are stories of extraordinary people whom we are blessed to call our neighbors and friends. Brynn Buskirk In George Lucente, a man who fought his way back from a life-threatening infection, Helen Haas we see someone who refused to be conquered by age and illness, and today is hunting Rebecca Horst and enjoying life with renewed strength and vitality. You’ll read about the artists of all Trina Johnson-Brady walks of life who call our communities home, and of the travelers that call us one of two Emilie Joly homes. You’ll read about exciting innovations like the MUSIC & MEMORYSM program Anastasia Lawrence Adam Marles and how Phoebe is using it to impact memory care. These stories show us that our senior years are something to be celebrated, cherished, and enjoyed—and that innovation and individuality are things to be embraced on every level. We have a new year ahead of us, one that will bring its challenges as well as its triumphs. As we forge ahead, we invite you to join us as partners in serving and honoring the seniors in our community, both in their own homes and ours at Phoebe. It is more important and easier than ever for us to stay connected as a broader community, and to use our resources wisely to enhance life for our elders and their families. You, our neighbors and community partners, are a vital part of our history, our success, and our future. With a humble heart, I thank you for all you have done, and welcome you to become an ever more active and fruitful part of our ongoing mission. Together in Christ, we can achieve great things. May this year be blessed for you. Scott R. Stevenson President & CEO Les Fleurs by Walter Krieger 3 Phoebe at Work | INDEPENDENT LIVING A SecondSHOT AT George Lucente, 81, likesLife to say he came to Phoebe “90 percent dead.” Today he’s back in nature, and back in the kitchen, living life to the fullest. 4 WWW.PHOEBE.ORG | Winter 2018 An avid lover of nature, Lucente took a trip with his family to Yellowstone National Park last spring. “You have to have faith and hope,” he says. “With that, anything is possible!” eorge stood in the woods. The cool morning dew glistened on the leaves and his breath made soft billows of steam in the air. Don’t. Move. He stood still. SHOT Listened. The buck turned and looked, and George checked his stance and pulled back on his compound bow. In one fluid motion, he released AT his arrow. As the animal fell to the ground, a single clear thought went through George’s mind: “I’m back.” Twelve months earlier, George Lucente was enjoying his retirement at home in Ulster County, New York. A retired law enforcement officer, George was always active: hunting, volunteering, fishing, and spending time with Life family. “I’ve worked three jobs at one time. I liked to be on the move,” he says. That was until a simple surgical procedure turned him septic. “A friend came to visit me and found me lying in my backyard,” George recounts quietly. “I was rushed to the hospital.” Out on the hunt with a family friend. 5 Phoebe at Work | INDEPENDENT LIVING Practicing the winning shot. George was “in the ICU and 90 percent dead,” as he tells it, when his son, Vincent, arrived at his bedside in New York. George remembers it vividly. He, the retired police officer, the hunter, the workhorse, was bedridden, unable to move. The man used to being the one in charge was suddenly thrust into a role he’d never experienced before: “It was one of those moments when the father becomes the son and the son becomes the father. My son was yelling two inches from my face. He told me I had the will to live, and I did.” Vincent, a reconstructive surgeon in the Lehigh Valley, remembers the dire state his father was in. “My father is a living testimony of what you can do when you have the will and determination to get better after a serious illness. His post-critical illness myopathy destroyed almost all muscle in his body and he had to start from scratch to rebuild all those muscles.” Post-rehab: Getting the big one! Catch of the day. 6 WWW.PHOEBE.ORG | Winter 2018 Vincent relocated George to Phoebe Allentown, where a large elk skull crowned with antlers three feet wide, and George then undertook short term rehabilitation. “They other hunting memorabilia. In January, the twelve-point brought me into Phoebe on a stretcher. I was like a buck he took down last fall arrived on a pedestal mount jellyfish,” he describes. “I couldn’t stand. I couldn’t speak. for him to display in his living room. “The taxidermist The staff at Phoebe really pushed me, and I attribute a lot called my son because the most recent one I got was the of what I can do today to their persistence.” That may be biggest one he’d ever seen—he needed to order a special true, but George isn’t the type of man who lets anything foam insert to support it,” George says with pride. hold him back. With a smile, he glances around his When George isn’t enjoying the tranquility of nature and independent living apartment at the Terrace at Phoebe the thrill of the hunt, he’s in his kitchen, cooking for Allentown. “Look at me now.” and hosting others for dinner. Often he walks across Vincent visits his father daily and is inspired by the the street to the Allentown Farmer’s Market to find independent life his father has returned to. “I was told the freshest ingredients for his home-cooked meals. “I by a large regional hospital that he was literally too sick did leg of lamb recently for six people! I’ve prepared for their rehabilitation services and only Phoebe could and served ravioli and roast beef as well.” George also handle him. He never could have accomplished this volunteers regularly across the street at the Phoebe recovery without the level of care at Phoebe.” Allentown Health Care Center gift shop. "He never could have accomplished this recovery without the level of care at Phoebe.” Though George still experiences lingering effects of And his new life at the Terrace at Phoebe Allentown? sepsis—it affected his memory, his speech, and his Well, George couldn’t be more pleased. “Living here? ability to read, at times—he doesn’t let those issues Let me tell you, there’s not a nicer place around. The slow him down. staff here is wonderful. They are so concerned about me, “I was always an independent man. Getting sick— from my housekeeper, to the cooks, to the waiters, to the that first year—was hard for me,” he admits. management. They are just all so outstanding!” But George is back at it. This past spring, he traveled George is a testament to what life is like at Phoebe for to Yellowstone National Park with his children, and independent adults.